BARELY a month after Harold Shipman had been found guilty of mass murder and the format of any inquiry was heading for the courts.

In our March 2, 2000 edition we reported how the 15 families involved in the trial, along with the daughters of Bertha Moss, had recruited legal health experts Alexander Harris to pursue a public hearing.

Peter Wagstaff, the son of Kathleen Wagstaff, said: "Each and every one of us are anxious to discover the full truth of what occurred and indeed to know how and why it was possible for these events to occur."

Solicitor Ann Alexander told how they had now begun negotiating with health secretary Alan Milburn over the matter.

"I believe that it is one of the exceptional cases in which a full public inquiry is needed to preserve the integrity and the confidence in the relationship between doctors and their patients," Miss Alexander said.

The negotiations involved a letter sent to Mr Milburn MP on February 22. Two weeks later the group were yet to receive a 'substantive reply', although they were now being joined with the growing number of families being organised by Jane Ashton-Hibbert and Suzanne Brock.